


4 Little Dreams

by CircusTalia



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Alice of human sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8128427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CircusTalia/pseuds/CircusTalia
Summary: There once was a dream that didn't want to die. Thus, the dream decided to live on in four different stories.





	1. The First Alice Was Made of Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The very first Alice was a woman of the blade. She swung it around carelessly in Wonderland.

The adrenaline was pumping in her veins as the brunnette woman ran away. Her face was covered in bruises and blood. Her eye was incredibly swollen, almost the size of a plum. Her hair was a mess, and her white dress with the red apron had gotten dirt all over it. She panted as she hid behind a tree. Her pursuers would surely catch up to her. Her body was shivering. She pulled herself close. Then, a mysterious old man with a cane approached her. 

He looked to be a gentle soul, an older fellow with a beard and soft blue eyes. He reached his hand out to the woman.

"My dear," he said, "what is wrong?"

The woman sobbed and hiccupped as she spoke.

"I, I, I'm scared," she said. "My master and his family are very angry with me."

Tears came pouring out of her eyes. The old man took out a tissue and handed it to her.

"What is your name?"

The woman took the tissue and wiped away the tears.

"Meiko, sir," she responded.

The old man lifted her up and tapped his cane on a tree trunk. There, a portal was opened. The woman's shuddering increased.

"No need to be afraid, my dear," he assured her. "Your master will never find you."

And through the portal they went through. 

* * *

On the other side, they reached a bright and peaceful field. There were wildflowers everywhere with butterflies flapping their wings in the air. The woman touched her cheek, but could not feel the cuts that were on there. Her face wasn't burning anymore. There was a glass mirror across from her and when she looked through it, she saw that her face had been healed. When she looked away from the mirror, she noticed that the flowers were giggling. She knelt down and could see that the wildflowers had faces and she could hear them murmuring among each other. The woman gasped in amazement. The butterflies that flew by also had a peculiar design as their wings looked like they had squares of butter on them. The woman laughed at her discovery. Then she turned to face the old man, who now had a pair of droopy white bunny ears emerge from his head. 

"Please, follow me," he said.

There was a sweetness in his voice, so she followed behind him. Everything about this place felt like a dream. There were more odd and playful creatures roaming about as the two of them walked. There were animals wearing coats and hats. Birds that had their wings change color. Clouds were literally changing forms in the sky. It looked almost like they were performing a play. 

"Excuse me, sir," she asked, "where are we?"

The old man stopped and turned to her with a smile.

"Why, my dear," he responded, "this is a place that very few people have heard of. This place is Wonderland."

The old man tapped his cane to the ground and out emerged a stone with a sword in it. The woman was exasperated at this sight. The old man swung his hand gracefully to the sword. 

"Go on, take it," he told her.

"But sir," she said as she fumbled with her apron, "I don't think I can. I couldn't imagine myself carrying a weapon."

The old man placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Sweet child, do not be afraid. In this world, you can be anything you want to be. I've looked into your eyes and I see a past of suffering. Suffering that you did not deserve." He tapped his cane to the earth again and out emerged a playful little red flower that kissed the woman on the cheek. "If you take this sword, you will find the strength inside of you to protect those who do not realize their own strength. Much like you were once before."

The woman petted the flower gently. She took a deep breath. She pulled the sword out of the stone. It was a little heavy, but she held it high.

"Oh, but there is one thing I must mention," the man said. "By accepting the role of a hero, you must have a new name."

The woman looked confused. 

"And what name am I to be called?"

"Alice."

 

Alice carried her blade with great care. She went out to search for anyone in need of her help. The creatures of Wonderland observed her with curiosity. They followed her wherever she went. Suddenly, she heard someone screaming. Alice rushed to a little cottage home where an older lizard woman was pinned against the wall by a lizard man. His threats could be heard all across the forest. Alice readied her sword. She quietly crept up behind the man and swung her sword at him. The lizard man fell to the ground as he let out his last breath and the lizard woman took some time to take in what just occurred. The lizard woman thanked Alice profusely. Immediately after the lizard woman thanked her, Alice heard another cry for help. She hurried off.

 

The days had passed in which Alice saved the innocent from the wicked. On a peaceful afternoon, she slept on the soft, kind grass, remembering her own past. She never wanted to go back to where she came from. In Wonderland, she was the hero she used to think only existed in fairy tales. Alas, her nap was interrupted when she heard another cry for help. She hopped back up and ran to where the cry was. This time, however, the cry was not of someone being attacked. It was the cry of a child whose leg had gotten stuck in between two boulders. 

"Help me!" the child shouted. "I'm stuck!" 

Tears had already been coming out of the child's eyes. His eyes were puffy and red, and there was snot hanging out of his nose. Alice put down her blade and tried to pull the child out. He cried, and there wasn't a budge to his state. She then attempted to see if she could separate the boulders, but alas she was not strong enough to do so. The creatures that had been following her also put in all their strength to rescue the child. But their efforts were useless. The child kept crying. He wallowed in his pain. Alice was at a loss. She wanted to see if there was anybody nearby that could help. 

_Stupid._

_What a stupid woman. She can't do the simplest tasks._

_How does she expect to get out of this predicament?_

_We should have never let her into our home._

Alice's head began to hurt. She saw the sword she had put aside. It's blade was sharp and long. It had been heavy for her to carry. She knew she could use the sword to help the boy. She took a hold of it and swung it down the child's leg. The child screamed as he saw his own blood making a mess of things. She kept smashing the sword against his leg. It had managed to cut through the flesh. But now, it needed to be cut through his bone. The child coughed, he felt he could no longer breathe the more that Alice picked away at his leg. It took a while, the blade was able to chip away at his bone. The sword cut through the child's leg, freeing the child.

The child fell down. His screams were now mute as he had used up all his energy that he could no longer fathom a voice. Alice tried to comfort the boy, but he wouldn't allow anyone to go near him.

"I have no leg...," he barely said with his raspy voice. 

Alice took pity on the boy. She picked up her sword once more. The boy's eyes widened even further as she struck him. She swished her sword across his neck. His head rolled on to the ground. He would no longer suffer. Alice came to realize what it meant to be a hero. It meant to end the suffering of life. As the creatures talked amongst themselves, Alice struck them down, too.

Alice started on a new journey. This time, she struck down all living creatures that were in her way. After the boy, there were a pair of turtledoves who were minding their own business as they merrily sang back to each other. Alice used her sword to slice them through. Their eyes were wide as their entrails were spread across the earth. Still, it did not stop there. All who came across Alice were killed on the spot. Even those of a much larger stature than her could not escape her wrath. The people that once called to her for help now cowered within their homes. No one dared to go out in fear of being in the way of the crazed monster. With every new life she took, Alice found her sword growing lighter and lighter. She skipped merrily, playfully tossing her sword up in the air before catching it. She didn't bother cleaning the blood stains on her white dress. Soon, her apron could not be distinguished from her former white dress. 

Alice never went back. She kept moving forward, unknowingly creating a trail behind her. There were times when she laughed at her kills, thinking about how joyous those souls would be when they reached heaven. If she believed they reached heaven, then she would soon be dragged to hell.

After a while, Alice found herself deeper within the woods, farther away from civilization. There weren't very many animals or flowers to surround her. She thought about turning back, but she found much more joy in finding out what there was in the deepest part of the woods. Surely, there had to be more people for her to save there.

However, with each step that Alice took, the trees surrounding her shifted. Their branches moved from raising the sky to inching closer to her. Alice did not notice such changes. Or, if she did, she found them to be nothing more than like the flowers who once murmured among each other. Alice stopped in front of a cave.

"Hello?" she asked, with her voice echoing across. Not another sound was heard. Alice supposed that this would have to be the end for her. She turned around and was about to hop across her trail. But as she flung herself in the air, she was caught.

"What?" A branch had taken hold of her. The grass grew and slithered itself all over her arms and legs. Flowers emerged, this time they were pointing at her with their stems and laughing at her. Alice was confused. She still held on to her sword. But she could not swing it. She was paralyzed. Out from the trail emerged the old man that had taken her to Wonderland. He still carried around his cane and his ears were low. He looked up at her, hanging in the air like a caught game.

"Oh, my dear Alice," he said. "How did it come to this?"

Alice tried to speak, but her words were covered by the grass.

"Alice, you were supposed to be a hero to all of us," the old man took a seat on a tree trunk. "If you had only asked for help when needed, you could have been remembered as Wonderland's greatest hero." The old man's lips curled into a grin. His sharp teeth were shown off. He shook his head. "As punishment for your crimes, you are to be kept here in this prison until the day you die. From now on, were it not for the bloodied path you had made, no one would have ever known of your existence! You will be remembered for the lives you had taken away instead of the ones you saved! Stay in this forest for the rest of your days."  

With that, he tapped his cane on the earth again and Alice was thrown into the cave where metal bars emerged to keep her from escaping. Alice screamed to be let out. She begged for forgiveness. She offered to take her own life away. But her sword was out of her reach as it was set up against one of the trees outside. Alice's begging only ceased after the old man walked on the path away from her.

* * *

"That didn't go as expected," the old man uttered to himself once he was outside of the woods. He tapped the cane to his head and his form changed from an old man to a white rabbit. "Maybe I need to come up with a new form," the white rabbit told itself. "I'm sure there are other Alices that would love to come into Wonderland. Maybe instead of a soldier, I should look torwards a performer."

The white rabbit hopped away as it strayed from the first Alice's path and went in another portal.


	2. The Second Alice Sounded Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second Alice was a man who loved to sing. He sang songs that would make anyone go insane.

A young man was sitting near the desk of another music agent. He wore tacky, over the top pants and a button-up shirt. His blue hair looked like it was drowned in gel. The only part of his outfit that he really liked was the scarf around his neck, which he had to fight tooth and nail for against his last agent. He clung on to the scarf while the business people were talking about his career without him. All he had to do was wait until he would be taken to his next rehearsal. All across the room were framed photos of several idols and actors. Some were magazine covers, some were album covers, and then there was the occassional newspaper article about how an artist won an award. The man puffed, as he stared at the windowless wall. 

All his life he had wanted to be singer. To sing the songs he wrote to millions of fans. It was like those TV shows he had watched. But what those shows never went into detail about was that those stars were puppets. They didn't create their own music. Some marketing team did. And worst of all, those shows neglect to tell their viewers how everything in life is controlled the moment you sign a contract. 

A woman in a suit with short, white hair came out from one of the offices and stood before the man. She adjusted her sunglasses and had a hand on her hip. She looked down at the man.

"Excuse me," she said, "who are you?"

The man looked at her, and then behind her where there was a photo of himself with his name on it. It was odd how someone in the industry wouldn't recognize him. Sure, he was an up and coming star, but surely talent agents would at least glance at the magazines they had everywhere.

"I'm Kaito," he replied. "Will you be my new agent?"

The woman removed her sunglasses. She looked straight into his eyes. Kaito felt a shiver run down his spine.

"I think we can work something out," she motioned for Kaito to follow her into one of the rooms. 

When they entered, the woman closed the door behind them and locked it. The room they were in was also windowless, but something about it felt more welcoming compared to the rest of the building. The walls were an earthly brown, the desk looked to be made of wood instead of glass or acrylic. There was a collection of song and music history books on a shelf. On the desk was a pot and flower shaped cups. The woman hovered over to the desk and poured a warm liquid down the cup.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"Um, sure...," he responded. 

The woman gave the young man a cup of tea. When he took a sip, it tasted very sweet and smelled like peaches. There was a sense of long forgotten familiarity with this drink. He perked back up to see the woman give a tender smile.

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" she asked.

"Go for it," he answered.

"Do you like singing?"

The young man looked down at his cup. 

"Of course. I've always loved singing."

The woman handed the man a fashion catalogue.

"Let me make you a deal," she told him. "I want you to sing the songs that you want to sing. You get to decide on your image and how you want to handle your fame. All you need to do is take on a new name. Give up your name in exchange for the freedom you've longed for."

"What would my new name be?"

"Alice."

* * *

Alice went up on stage with his long, white coat and his brushed, not gel-downed hair. He still kept his blue scarf around his neck as it flew over his shoulder. Many people in the crowd cheered him on and he began to sing the newest song he wrote. The energy in his lungs, the echo of his voice which drummed beyond the stage and throughout the crowd, the power in his lyrics. All of these were aspects of himself that he had nearly forgotten about. The very beat in which he had dedicated his whole life to. Only now was he able to share his love of music so genuinely. 

After that last performance, Alice went into his dressing room which was filled with bouquets of flowers, fan letters, and an array of gifts. He slumped down into his chair and opened up one of the letters. The letter was from a fan who was grateful to Alice for saving them from a depression. They greatly admired Alice's singing and that their family would travel all over Wonderland just to hear him sing. Alice was touched by the letter and searched for a pen and paper to write back to the fan. Upon searching, he found a caterpillar by the window sill. 

The caterpillar was a sitting along the sill, smoking on a pipe and blowing smoke in the air. Alice came closer to the caterpillar and smiled at it.

"Why, hello there," he told it. "Are you by any chance a fan of my work?"

The caterpillar smoked its pipe before answering the idol.

"And why would I be a fan of someone I barely know," it replied nonchalantly.

Alice giggled.

"Well, I am the most famous singer in all of Wonderland. Surely you've heard of me somewhere."

The caterpillar looked away from Alice.

"And who are you?"

"I'm Alice, silly," he told the caterpillar. It was quite refreshing for Alice to find a person in Wonderland who had not heard of him. Even the people who didn't like him could recognize him.

"No, you're not," the caterpillar told Alice.

"Huh?"

"Who is Alice?" the caterpillar asked.

Alice was taken aback. He had just told this bug who he was. And now the bug asked a question with an obvious answer. Alice was right there. The one who was talking to a caterpillar.

"I am Alice," he responded.

The caterpillar put down its pipe to crawl up the window. 

"Well, Alice, you're not going to get anywhere by expecting praise from me. If you can't answer a simple question, then you're nothing but an idiot boy. Tell me, have you really helped anyone with your fame? What do silly songs do for anyone?"

The caterpillar was gone. Alice found the situation odd, but what was even stranger was that he felt his eyes grow watery. He didn't notice that he was about to cry until he looked at himself in the mirror. Those words that the caterpillar had said. They were told to him once before. That's when he remembered that he had completely forgotten his purpose for singing. He loved to sing, sure, but there was more to it than that. He had a reason to sing. The reason being that he had influenced so many.

Alice looked at the fan letter that was on his desk. He took out his pen and a piece of paper and began to write on top of it. He didn't write a response to that letter. Rather, he wrote a new song. A song about allowing your emotions to get the best of you.

 

Alice continued writing and singing songs about emotions. He had always sung about love and loneliness, but this time his songs focused on loves that just had to be obtained by any means necessary. He sang of the importance of releasing anger out on a world that didn't make much sense to begin with. He sang of sorrows whose only way of being visible was by leaving marks on the body. As Alice continued to sing such songs, his audience members grew more and more energized. His fans were restless upon waiting for his next performance. They burned down homes and raided shops to show their idol that they knew what he was singing about. Alice was touched by the gestures of his fans. He kept singing just for them. 

Then came a day, in mid noon, when he walked up on stage. Alice looked over the crowd of people that were in attendance. It was in this performance in particular that he felt his importance over Wonderland. They cheered for him. They shouted his name. Alice sang to them the songs they wanted to hear. The songs they lived for. The ones they needed just to keep that connection to him. As Alice sang, a crazed man with a butterfly on his top hat emerged from the crowd. The man tried to reach for Alice, but was pushed back by security. Alice noticed the man and tried to reach for him, too. He brought attention to the man, who he thought would be grateful to be noticed by him. When the spotlight was on the man in the top hat, the man reached into the pockets of his coat and held out a gun. He pointed the gun to Alice and spared no time to shoot him down. 

The man held the gun up to his head next and shot himself. Everyone was in a frenzy. Their beloved idol was dead. The one who wrote songs that reflected the state of Wonderland was gone. Screams and fights broke out. No one in the audience was safe. From the side, the woman with short, white hair got on stage. From behind, her cotton tail was visible. She knelt down beside Alice and placed his head on her lap. She brushed his hair with her fingers. 

"Oh, Alice," she sighed. "I brought you here to sing songs from your heart. To sing songs that appealed to you. Instead, you sang songs to gain the favor of Wonderland. If you had realized the dangers of your influence sooner, you would still be alive." She looked at the audience that was still fighting among themselves. She carried Alice in her arms and hopped off the stage. Then she leaned in closer to his ear. "And now your death will be what saved Wonderland. Your fans will love you better in death than in life." 

The woman grew a grin and whistled. She threw Alice's lifeless body to the crowd, who all carried it out of the arena. They put aside their quarreling to see the blue rose that grew out of Alice's bullet wound. They held a funeral for him, one that had the highest attendance compared to all of his concerts put together. Alice's songs were sung only in times of sorrow. Everyone that loved him thought that the best part about him was how he died. They said that flowers all across Wonderland bloomed and smelled ever so sweetly. 

The woman transformed back into a small, white rabbit. They wondered across Wonderland for a time, not knowing who the next Alice should be.

"Perhaps," they said, "I should choose one that won't die so easily."


	3. The Third Alice Looked Like Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third Alice was a lovely girl. She was full of charm and haunted by nightmares.

The evening grew dark as a young girl shivered in her clothes. She walked around aimlessly, her hair being a complete mess and her stomach growling every ten minutes. The girl had long, green pigtails and wore a faded, grey dress. She didn't wear any shoes and her socks had holes in them. The girl dug through a nearby trash can and gobbled up a piece of a sandwich that had been thrown away. Still, it did not satisfy her. The girl had already gone through many streets and her feet had ached. She was all alone. A bridge was nearby. She spotted the bridge and made her way there. She looked down to see that the mucky water was quite a ways down. The girl did not know how to swim so even if her head didn't crush upon impact, she would probably drown. As she stepped over the bridge, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around to see a tall, handsome young man with white hair. He wore a stylish outfit and had eyes of distress when looking at her. He pulled her away from the ledge and spoke to her.

"Little one," he spoke, "what are you doing?"

The girl removed his hand from her shoulder.

"I'm doing the world a favor," she told him. "Surely no one will miss me."

The man tucked some of her loose hair strands behind her ear.

"And why would you say such a thing?"

"Because, no one cares where I am or what I do. I have no one to go to."

The man knelt down and pulled her in for a hug. The girl was confused, but she felt warmer. Safer. Wanted.

"What is your name?"

"Miku, sir," she told him.

The man pulled away from her and took her hand. He placed a hand on the railing of the bridge and upon that touch, the scenery changed. It was now a bright and sunny morning, with the water clear enough to see catfish, dogfish, and flying fish jumping out of the water. Her torn up dress had transformed into a green, laced dress with golden bows. Her hair was better kept and she found herself looking beautiful. The man latched on to her arm and escorted her across the park that was filled with many people. There were dodos, lizards, mock turtles, griffins, card people, and chess people. The girl was amazed by all these interesting creatures. She looked up at the man and saw that he had grown a pair of straight white rabbit ears. She giggled at the sight and he laughed with her. The pair were then approached by a knave of hearts.

"Ah, hello," he said, "and who might this lovely young lady be?"

As the girl was about to answer, the rabbit man answered for her.

"Alice."

"Alice? What a pretty name. I do hope you'll join me and my family later."

The girl's face grew pink.

"Oh, of course," she said. And the knave scurried off.

The girl faced the rabbit man. 

"Why did you tell him my name was Alice?"

The rabbit man let go of her and took out a pair of white bows. He tied them around hair.

"Because," he said, "a new life means a new name. It must have been lonely, not having anyone take a glance at you. But here, you will receive the attention you deserved. And with that attention," he cupped her cheek, "you will be loved."

Her eyes lit up at what he had said. She could not recall the last time someone had been this kind to her. The knave called out her name and the rabbit man let her go. Alice didn't sound like such a bad name anyway.

* * *

Alice quickly adjusted to her new life in Wonderland. A kindly old couple took her in as their daughter and let her live with them in their little bakery. She was always out and about with someone. She played games, she worked alongside neighboring businesses, and she attended as many tea parties as she possibly could. Every day, she received gifts from various villagers. They gave her all sorts of gifts. From delicious treats to new dresses to fine jewelry. It became obvious who their favorite person was. Alice made it a point to thank everyone for their kindness. But they did not stop there.

There was an old castle that had not been used in so long. The cards and the chess pieces could not come to an agreement on who should take the palace, and whose royalty should rule. But then they began to refurbish the entire castle and escorted Alice into it. There, she was crowned as the country's new ruler. She was known as the one, true queen.

Alice had many suitors enter her castle, always asking to accompany her on a date. She would agree to go on these dates, but she had never chosen a king to sit beside her in the throne room. But who could blame her? She had loved everyone equally. They were all just so good to her and they each had their quirks. She simply couldn't choose favorites, whether in love or otherwise.

One day, Alice walked through her maze to pick out roses. She had reached a part of the maze which was unlike any of the other hedges. This hedge she was in had crumpled brown leaves and dying flowers. At the end of it was a splattered yellow juice of some kind. She walked closer to see what it was and screamed. Her guards rushed to her to find her sobbing on the ground over the corpse of a dead baby bird. They consoled her as a servant scooped up the little thing in a box. A funeral was arranged for the little thing. At the funeral, Alice cried. She didn't think it deserved to die. She wished she had discovered the bird sooner. Alice made a decree that not a single corpse was to be lying around in any part of Wonderland.

The clean up of corpses began. Every corner of the country was inspected to make sure that every living thing that had died would receive a proper funeral. Alice sat up on her throne, listening to the list of the dead that were found. Each night, in her sleeping chambers, she would find it difficult to sleep. Death had surrounded her and she was oblivious to it all. When she finally did sleep, her mind was haunted by nightmares. 

Up in her throne, after listening to the status of her kingdom, she would take a sip of her drink and choke. Her skin would turn blue, her mouth would spit out blood, and she would be dead. And no one would know she had died. Or, she would walk around her kingdom and get shot by an assassin. Or she would wake up to find her organs pulled out and slowly getting eaten by a monster. Or, she would look in her mirror to find a wrinkly, old hag in her place that would pull her eyes out. As long as she breathed, she was susceptible to all kinds of death. Love, adoration, such emotions could not stop this fate.

One day, Alice went to her balcony which overlooked all of Wonderland. All of her citizens were present when their queen was to make an announcement. They looked up to her, anticipating the words she would bless them with. With the wave of her hand, Alice was ready to make her decree.

"Wonderland," she spoke, "do you love your Queen?"

There were distorted sounds, but they all said some variation of yes.

"Do you really?" she asked.

Again, the citizens said yes. She smiled at them. 

"My lovely little Wonderland, what ever shall you do without me? I cannot be queen forever, can I?"

The people shouted that she could. They couldn't imagine Wonderland having a ruler that wasn't her. 

"But, the problem is, I am mortal. I can only live for so long." She shook her head. Then she perked it back up. "Unless, of course, there was a way to make me immortal?"

There was silence. Alice twirled her hair.

"How about this? Why doesn't someone go out on a journey to find me the key to immortality? There must be a potion or a spell that will make me live forever." 

There were murmurs of agreement.

"And, if no one can bring me immortality, why not have it so that if I die, everyone in the land will die with me? If you really couldn't live on without me, then you should all die beside me. That way, beyond death, I shall always be your queen. What do you say?"

Everyone shouted with joy.

"Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!" everyone chanted.

 

Sitting on her throne, the rabbit man busted through the doors into her court. He was very angry, his eyes narrowed at the queen.

"Alice!" he yelled. 

Alice grew a wide smile and clasped her hands.

"It's you!" she shouted. "Oh, Mr. Rabbit Man, it's been so long," she rose from her throne and walked her way down to him.

However, he was in no mood for catching up.

"What is this about sending your people to find you immortality?" he questioned. "I have heard of many of Wonderland's people leaving their homes to find you something that you don't even know exists."

"So?" She snapped her finger and a servant brought in a tray of drinks and snacks.  
  
"So? So?! Some of those people are dead!" he smacked the tray right out of the servant's hands. "And you made the announcement to have your kingdom commit a mass suicide should you die?!"

Alice backed away from him.

"You don't understand, I need to maintain my status as the ruler of Wonderland. Everyone here loves me. It breaks my heart when someone I don't know dies, surely they will get depressed if their queen were to die. Think about it. This way, if I don't live forever, they'll never know the sorrow I have to go through."

The rabbit man gritted his teeth. His eyes and ears twitched. 

"Alice," he said under his breath, "I suppose I must have chosen someone a little too like me."

Alice tilted her head. 

"What are you talking about?" she tried to approach him. 

"I suppose, I wanted to live forever, too." He covered his face. Then, a wicked grin formed. "But I'm not like you." He revealed to her his crazed eyes. "I'll never be like you. I'd rather die than make a whole country kill itself for me. I felt pity for you the first time I saw you. And now, I can finally see what you really are." He chuckled. "You and I have the same fears, but that doesn't make us whole. So, go ahead. Continue ruling this country for all of eternity. But know this. Not a day will pass where you shall live with a peace of mind. At least one hour of every day, you will be haunted by images of death. You will never be able to get rid of these images. You will find yourself living in your nightmare. Feeling every ounce of pain that comes with it! You were supposed to be different! You were supposed to be happy with everyone's attention! You were supposed live with the power of love! And whether they see it or not, know that you are nothing but a selfish, self-serving maniac!"

"Guards!" she called out. 

But by the time he was surrounded, a puff of smoke filled the room. When it cleared, he was gone. Everyone continued to adore their little queen. Their love for her never faded. However, with each passing day, she sentenced herself to be locked away in a room where she could go through her nightmares without making a scene in public. Her skin became covered in self-inflicting scars and she cried herself to sleep each and every night. Whether she gained immortality or not is unknown. No one knows what happened to her kingdom. All anyone really knows was that Alice was the last queen of that particular region.

 

The young man snapped his fingers and he turned into a small white rabbit. The rabbit pranced around the field, chewing on the grass and looking at the clouds. It pondered to itself about it's next move. Then, it saw a pair of smaller, younger rabbits playing in the meadow.

"Of course," it said to itself, "I should have seen it before. I have yet to invite actual children to Wonderland."


	4. The Fourth Alice Were A Pair of Yellows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fourth Alice was a pair of twins. When they played in Wonderland, they find themselves stuck.

Two children were hiding behind the legs of an adult who was speaking with another adult. The adult's voices grew aggravated, and the kids shivered. They were unlike many children. They were twins. A blonde girl and boy who wore matching, brown overalls. The grown up they were hiding behind patted their heads.

"Okay, you two, go off and play while we wait."

They did as instructed and raced against each other to the park. No other child was there, perhaps for the best as these children had the jungle set all to themselves. The girl, who was the older twin, made her way to the monkey bars while the boy, who was the younger twin, opted to go on the swing. The girl jumped off of the monkey bars and ran to her brother.

"Hey, do you think they'll have snacks where they live?"

The boy stopped in his tracks.

"I'm not sure. I do hope they'll love us."

"They must love us! It's been so long."

"I wonder if they'll play games with us."

"Yeah, they'll play games with us! But, maybe they've forgotten how to play."

Just then, they heard a rustling in a nearby bush. The two of them walked over to it to see if it was an animal. To their surprise, it was a plush white rabbit in a coat. It jumped out of the bush and landed right in front of them. 

"Hello," it said in a high voice. "You two like to play games, right?"

They both nodded.

"And you like adventures, right?"

Again, they nodded.

"Then why don't you follow me? I'll take you to a place where you can play games all the time."

The twins grinned.

"Oh, but what's your name?" the boy asked.

"I can be whatever you'd like me to be," the plush toy moved around, swinging its ears. "What about your names?"

The girl hit her hand against her chest. 

"I'm Rin. I'm the oldest."

The boy pointed a finger to himself.

"And I'm Len. I'm the youngest. How can we trust you?"

"Oh, come now, Brother, don't be so paranoid. Don't you want to have a little fun?"

The boy pondered before following his sister's lead. They were led to a massive hole where the plush rabbit jumped in first. The siblings held each other's hand and came jumping in after him. Gusts of wind hit their faces. After the gusts, they found themselves floating down ever so gently. Furniture and paintings passed by them. They eventually came to a safe landing to the floor. It was a checkered floor. The floor led them to a path where they found a table filled with all sorts of intriguing tableware. Teapots were massive as were the cups. Cakes and tarts were stacked in unbelievably high towers. Around the table were mice dressed in outfits. There were flying saucers and an area for croquet that was played with flamingos and porcupines. The twins eyed the scenery in great detail.

"Welcome to Wonderland," the plush rabbit said. "Here, you can play for as long as you want and whatever you want."

"Really?" they asked simultaneously.

"Really. Oh, but there is one thing you must know. In Wonderland, you two will be known as Alice."

"Alice?" the boy questioned. "How will anyone be able to tell us apart if we share the same name?"

The plush rabbit giggled.

"Why, everyone will refer to you as either Sister Alice or Brother Alice." 

"And, how long will we stay?"

"You can stay here for as long as you want. Your world doesn't have to wait very long for your return. Here, you'll get to control the passage of time."

The plush rabbit left and the children were left to play.

* * *

With their control over time, they made the most of their fun. Rounds of croquet were over in a minute. They continuously ate treats and drank tea to a slower rate to savor the flavors. They played cards and stacked them almost as high as the pastries were before. It wasn't long until they grew bored. They didn't know what else to do. They could have gone home had they wished, but they thought it would have been much too early. Therefore, they wandered from that area to go exploring the rest of Wonderland.

Wonderland was so much more interesting than they could have imagined it. They learned songs from the flowers, drank potions that made them shrink, ate mushrooms that made them large, and that was only the surface. Under the water, they raced against turtles, juggled bubbles, and found treasures in sunken ships. They used the found treasures to enter castles, hang out with elites, and even gave some away to those in dire need. With their manipulation of time, they saw Wonderland go through every season. They experienced the warmest and coldest of weathers. One minute they built snowmen, the next minute they flew kites to fly alongside the many peculiar birds. 

It seemed as though they had traveled everywhere in Wonderland. They became familiar with every species that could talk and walk. They partook in the most known and lesser known festivities. They had their fun. As they prepared themselves to leave, they noticed a red path they had never seen before. 

"Brother, have we walked this red path yet?" Sister Alice asked.

"I don't believe we have," Brother Alice answered. "At least, not to my memory."

"How about this: we see where this path takes us and then we can go home."

"Sounds like a plan."

They walked down the mysterious red path, skipping along merrily. During their new journey they came across parts of Wonderland they never knew existed. They passed by a green castle which had a statue of a pretty woman with long pigtails. Underneath the statue read: Our Precious Queen. May She Forever Reign. After they had read it, they heard a high scream coming from the castle. The two of them ran as fast as they could, worried that something terrible might come after them. Their next destination was a village which had a glass coffin to display a sleeping man with a blue rose emerging from a wound. They heard a somber tune, which they thought was too depressing to sing along to. 

The path continued deep into the woods. The twins clung to one another, their bodies shivering. It was all too scary for them to move onward. But, Sister Alice pushed themselves forward.

"C'mon, we've made it this far," she said.

"I don't know," her brother whined.

"Listen, our parents are expecting the best children in the world. When we see them again, we have to show them how brave we are. How dedicated we are. If we follow through on our goal, we can go home."

"And Mom and Dad will want to keep us this time?"

"Exactly."

Brother Alice smiled and the two moved forward. For a forest, not many creatures were seen in the trees. The leaves barely looked alive despite Sister and Brother Alice not using their time manipulation this time around. Each clicking step echoed throughout the forest. The path was becoming more noticeably dirty and darker. It felt like an eternity to reach the end, but they did.

There was a barred off cave right in front of them. A voice came out of that cave.

"And who might you two be?" It was a woman's voice.

"We are Alice," the boy answered.

"Alice?" A low chuckle was heard. "How peculiar. What brings you children to this forest?"

"We just wanted to see where this path would lead us," the girl responded. "Now that we know, it is time for us to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"Home," the boy said softly.

"I see. Children, I am a poor woman who has been kidnapped and am forced to live in this cave. Put your hands around those bars so that you may set me free. In return, I shall take you home."

Sister and Brother Alice were hesitant to follow the woman's voice. However, if she was trapped, they knew in their hearts that they couldn't leave her behind. She was just like them, desperate to go home already. They did as she instructed. Out came a woman drenched in red with the deadliest of grins. She put her hands around their necks and banged their heads across the bars. Their eyes bulged out as they struggled to escape the woman's grasp. The woman dug her thumbs deep in their skin, causing blood to trickle down. 

"Ah, I guess you won't be able to go home now," she said. "Why would you want to go back anyway? You can just stay here forever, where your spirits will never be bored. Having something to aim for will only cause you to be miserable. Like me." 

She dropped the children, their bodies thudding against the floor. Their eyes were still wide open. The woman put a hand over them and closed their eyes.

"Keep dreaming, Alice," she told them, "may you never suffer."

 

The plush rabbit rushed down the path to find Alice. When it got to the end, it found their corpses resting on top of each other. It glared at the cave, where the first Alice had retreated back into the shadow. The plush rabbit looked down on the twins and tears dripped down its nose.

"I'm sorry," it said. "I'm sorry." It parted their hair away from their faces. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I thought your lives back home were miserable. I should have made sure you never walked this accursed path. It's my fault that you'll never get to go home." It nuzzled their cheeks and foreheads. "It's my fault you're trapped here. You'll never wake up. If you must be in a dream, I hope you're trapped in a dream that's good to you." 

The plush rabbit dragged the dead bodies out of the forest where the plant life took to burying the two, side by side. The plush rabbit reverted back into a normal white rabbit. It continued to mourn the loss of Alice for weeks. It couldn't bear to return the bodies to the world they came from. It couldn't kill the hope that they might be alive somewhere. Somewhere happier.

* * *

 As the white rabbit roamed Wonderland, it managed to get another idea. Instead of stopping invitations to make humans the next Alice, it should continue to do so. A dream can't always be good. It would be in vain to the previous Alice to stop. The previous Alice had so much fun. Whose to say that the next one can't? Or the one after the next? This little dream would have try harder and keep a closer eye on the next Alice it brings. The good times are worth enduring the painful ones. And so, the white rabbit set out to search for the next human to invite to Wonderland.

"Who's next?"


End file.
